The CoOP special session (024) at Ocean Sciences included a total of 43 abstract submissions for oral and poster presentation. Information about the special session is below.
CoOP synthesis efforts are anticipated to be published in the TOS journal Oceanography in the December 2008 issue. Approximately 16 manuscripts from all CoOP projects are in progress for the issue. Check back for more information as the issue develops.
Ocean Sciences Special Session 024 schedule
SS024: Coastal Ocean Processes:
Integration and Synthesis of Interdisciplinary Shelf Studies
Rick Jahnke, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
Oscar Schofield, Rutgers University
Continental shelves play a major role in global marine biogeochemical cycles, support most commercial living marine resources and are the interface zone between the human-inhabited terrestrial and open ocean environments. Because of the proximity of the land and seafloor interfaces, numerous biological and transport processes are either unique to or intensified within shelf ecosystems, differentiating them from their oceanic counterparts. The mix of major forcing factors such as winds, tidal magnitude and frequency, and buoyancy input in conjunction with geomorphology determine the local ecosystem characteristics and dynamics. Amongst the considerable challenges that limit advancing understanding of this complex system is the interdependence of processes and the extreme range of temporal and spatial scales of variability. Recent technological advances and focused interdisciplinary studies, however, have made considerable progress. This session will provide a framework for the synthesis and interdisciplinary integration of results of recent coastal ocean studies. We especially encourage papers that 1) synthesize results across diverse environmental settings, 2) integrate disparate disciplinary observations, 3) synthesize remotely-sensed and in situ observations, 4) report results employing innovative coastal observing technologies, and 5) combine observations and modeling.
